1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system for automatic financial transaction machines, and more particularly to a transmitter for accessing various automatic financial transaction machines, including automatic teller machines.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been a vast proliferation in automatic and automated banking and other financial transactions. This advancement has been driven, in large part, by the development of more powerful computers and electronic computing devices. Automatic teller machines embody one such example. However, the list does not end there. As is now well known, many supermarkets employ a financial transaction device. Whether they operate from a banking card, debit card, or a credit card, these devices allow a patron to make a non-cash grocery purchase. Similarly, many gas pumps are now equipped with a mechanism, such as a credit card reader, to allow patrons to make non-cash purchases.
While such automated financial transaction machines have greatly enhanced customer convenience, particularly for after-hours banking, there are various shortcomings in these devices. For example, these automated devices are generally operated by a user inserting a plastic card into a card receiving slot. The plastic card includes a ferromagnetic strip that is encoded with certain user-identifying information, including an account number. This account number may be an account number for a banking account, a credit account, a debit account, etc. A corresponding transducer is provided in connection with the card receiving slot to “read” the magnetic information stored on the card. This information is then transmitted, generally through a computer network, to an appropriate location so that the user or customer may access the appropriate identified account. Certain safeguards, such as requiring the customer to manually input a unique identifying personal identification number are also employed by the automated machine to provide security to the customer's account in the event that a banking card is lost or stolen.
One of the shortcomings noted in these automated financial transaction machines relates to the high incidence of failure in the card reading devices. Specifically, it is known that the mechanical card reading device often fails, which leads to customer aggravation. The relatively high failure rates noted in the card reading devices is partially attributable to the inherent inaccuracies in such mechanical devices, but is quite often attributable to dirty or damaged banking cards. Indeed, men generally carry such cards in a billfold, which is worn on their person, and which, over time, fatigues the card or otherwise corrupts the magnetic strip containing the user's account information.
Another problem noted with these types of cards, particularly in connection with automatic banking machines, relates to increased risks of being robbed. It is now an unfortunate, but known, risk that patrons are often targets when accessing automatic banking machines, particularly in remote locations or after dark. Would-be robbers recognize that a person preparing to use an automatic banking machine is generally using the machine for the purpose of withdrawing cash, thereby leaving the patron more susceptible to theft or even bodily injury. To make matters worse, the very fact that the vast majority of people store their banking cards either in a billfold or in a purse generally results in the persons having their billfolds and/or purses exposed during the time of the banking transaction. Thus, not only is money retrieved from an automatic banking device exposed for would be robbers, but the patron's billfold and/or purse is also similarly exposed. Furthermore, the fact that a person must generally retrieve the automated banking card from a billfold and/or purse typically requires a greater amount of time, thus further increasing the risk of unlawful activity.
As is further known, some automated banking machines are disposed so that they may be accessed in drive-up fashion from an automobile window. These banking devices not only provide an added degree of safety for the patron, but also provide further convenience, in that the patron need not shut down and exit a vehicle in order to access the automated machine. Nevertheless, a person must still retrieve an automatic banking card from his/her billfold/purse in order to access the automated machine.
Therefore, there is a tremendous need and desire to provide an improved mechanism for accessing various automated financial transaction machines. Several attempts to provide such apparatus are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,185 discloses an automated cash transaction apparatus, which includes a circuit for performing signal reception and transmission with a card carried by a user. The signal reception and transmission is transmitted via electromagnetic waves. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,857 discloses a rather sophisticated electronic identification system having remote automatic response capability. Indeed, both of these devices disclose rather sophisticated electromagnetic transceivers capable of wireless, bi-directional communication with a remote device. A particular and acute shortcoming in these and similar devices relates to the relative sophistication, and therefor expense, of the circuitry required to implement the functionalities therein. Particularly for purposes of the banking industry, it is desired to be able to provide a very low cost device, and for this reason, banking cards encoded by a ferromagnetic strip have heretofore been preferred. In the case of a bank providing automated access to a customer account, each customer is generally provided with one or more such access devices, and for this reason, the relatively sophisticated transceiver circuits of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,757,185 and 5,565,857 generally provide a cost prohibitive mechanism for wide spread use.